Stand by You
by shadowsedge
Summary: There is a huge party held in honor of the returning heroes. There, Ivan sings a special song to the one he loves...(Windshipping) Reformatted the song.


Shadow: This is a little something I came with while listening to the radio.  
  
Sheba + Viper: I hate fluffy!  
  
Kari: *is petting Fluffy* Hey!  
  
Sheba: Not the cat!  
  
Viper: Lovey dovey mushy gooey!  
  
Shadow: Whatever....  
  
Kari: Shadow doesn't own us, or Golden Sun.  
  
Sheba: Or the song "Hero."  
  
Viper: *yawns* Let's get on with it....  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ivan stood in front of a mirror, uncomfortably surveying his reflection. He started playing with his crimson red tie, absent-mindedly untying it.  
  
"I don't get why we have to get all dressed up," Ivan commented to Isaac, also wearing a suit and a ugly dark yellow tie. "I hate looking like this....people always stare at me."  
  
"It's all in your head," Isaac told him reassuringly. He reached over and fixed Ivan's tie. "Stop playing with it. I won't be able to retie it all night."  
  
They left Isaac's bedroom and walked down the narrow staircase to where Garet, Felix, and Piers were waiting for them.  
  
"Remind me why I'm doing this again," Ivan said.  
  
"Well..."  
  
{===Flashback===}  
  
"Where is my sister?" Felix wondered aloud.  
  
Garet popped his head out from the living room, where they were playing cards, and told him, "Her and the rest of the girls are all over at your house making plans for something...I dunno what though."  
  
"Hmmm...I don't want my dear baby sister getting in trouble," Felix said. He then stood up and shouted, "Isaac! Garet! Ivan! Piers! Front and center!"  
  
The called people rushed in, with Garet tripping over nothing, Isaac falling over him, and so on and so forth until they were all lying on the ground rubbing their heads.  
  
"Hmph. Good job, you klutz," Ivan told Garet. "Now move your fat butt, Piers, before I shock it off of me." Piers jumped up quickly and helped Ivan up.  
  
"Owww...." Garet sat up and rubbed his head. "Me brain feels ouchies..."  
  
Felix walked over and calmly smacked him. "Hey! Ouch! That hurt!"  
  
"Good. It was meant to," Felix told him with a rare smile. "Now, shall we go and see what the girls are planning?"  
  
"Oh, yes, please, let's," Piers said, smiling as well.  
  
They left Garet's small house, and trudged down the path, talking about things that males talk about. (A/N What do they talk about in groups? I shudder to think about it...hehe)  
  
The guys came to the earthen stairs carved into the side of the cliff. Peering over the side, they saw Jenna and Mia talking, with Sheba sitting alone off to the side with a bored look on her face.  
  
"Okay, let's go," Isaac told them. They walked down the set of stairs and came to the giggling girls. "Whatcha doooing?" Garet asked in an obnoxious tone of voice.  
  
They jumped and turned around. "Nothing that you would want to know," Jenna said slyly.  
  
"Yeah," Mia added. "This is girl talk."  
  
"Then why is she," Ivan pointed to Sheba, "sitting off to the side? As far as I know, she's a girl too."  
  
"She doesn't want in on our plans to--" Mia caught herself before she could say anything important.  
  
"What?" the guys demanded. "What plans?"  
  
"We might as well tell them," Jenna said, turning to Mia.  
  
"Yes, you can do it."  
  
"Hm.." Jenna said. "Well...we've been organizing a party for the past few days to honor us saving the world. But we need just one more thing to make the party absoulutely perfect."  
  
"What?" Isaac said. "We'll help you find it."  
  
The girls turned to each other, cracked evil identical grins, and shouted at the same time, "Male escorts!"  
  
All the guys stepped back.  
  
"Oh, Isaac," Jenna came up to him. "You know, it would make me very, very happy if you could take me to this wonderful party." She gave him a beautiful smile, and Isaac grinned as well.  
  
"Oh, no fair. You know I can't resist you when you smile like that."  
  
Mia came catwalking up to Garet. "Hee hee, do you know what I want, Garet?"  
  
Garet thought for a long, hard moment. "Food?"  
  
Mia smacked herself. "No! Honestly, why did I ever fall for you? I want you," she pointed at Garet," to take me," she pointed to herself, "to the party!"  
  
"Okay, but only if there's food."  
  
"Ouch!" came a loud voice from behind the happy couples. They turned around and saw Sheba sitting on the ground holding her knee. "Damned tree root," she grumbled. She saw everyone watching her with expression of curiousity, and, in Jenna's case, evilness. "Oh no..."  
  
She lept up and began to run again. Unfortuantaly, she only managed to get about 4 feet before her knee gave out again. "Augh!"  
  
Mia ran over and healed her, then grabbed her and hauled her back to Jenna. "She doesn't have a partner yet."  
  
Sheba began struggling to get out of Mia's iron grip. "Really, wow, that's okay, I just won't go to the party then, heh heh..." She started turning red.  
  
"Who doesn't have a partner here?" Jenna surveyed the crowd. Her eyes fell on Ivan, who was trying to make himself even smaller and more insignificant than he already is. "Ivan! You can go with Sheba!"  
  
Ivan started coughing and didn't stop even when Piers starting hitting his back. "No..no...that's okay....I don't want...to be a...bother," he managed to choke out.  
  
Sheba managed to turn as red as a fireball and choked out as well, "No, really, I don't want to go...with him."  
  
"Too bad!" Mia sang out. She let go of Sheba's arm and pushed her towards Ivan, making her fall into his arms and they both fell over.  
  
Ivan hastily stood up, and helped Sheba up, like a true gentleman.  
  
"Now...ask her to go to the party with you," Jenna said dangerously. "Because if you don't..." She held up her right hand, which was covered with dancing flames.  
  
"Uh...fine!" Ivan yelled angrily. "Sheba, d'you wanna go to the party with me?"  
  
"Now...say yes," Mia said dangerously as well. She held up her hand, which held a waterball.  
  
"Ha! Water conducts electricity!" Sheba said triumuphantly.  
  
Jenna's hand began glowing again.  
  
"Eeep. Yes, Ivan, I'll go," she said, staring at the little ball of fire.  
  
"Good," Jenna said, all happy again. "Now, come back in a few hours and pick us up, so we can go!" She and Mia each grabbed one of the struggling Sheba's arms, and hauled her into the house.  
  
{===End flashback===}  
  
"Hmph...your girlfriends suckered me into this!" Ivan yelled.  
  
"Oh, be quiet," Felix said lazily, slumped over the armchair.  
  
"At least you have a date," Piers added, sitting on the armrest.  
  
"We know you love her, so that's all well and good," Garet said, putting his two cents in.  
  
"It's that obvious?" Ivan said, sinking down onto the couch. "And I thought I was hiding it..."  
  
"You did," Felix put in helpfully. "Sheba doesn't know, I've asked my sister."  
  
"Tell me Ivan," Piers asked. "Why did you ever fall for her in the first place?"  
  
"Uh, well...I don't know," Ivan replied thoughtfully. "I guess, at the Venus Lighthouse, when she was hanging off the edge...Do you know, that after that lighthouse, I was gonna quit? But...I kept going....for her sake."  
  
Felix growled slightly.  
  
"Then, it made me feel so happy again to see her finally...but I never could get up the courage to tell her how I feel."  
  
"Hmmm...." Garet mused. "Ivan, there could be no better time than to tell her than tonight!"  
  
"If I can find a way," Ivan said, "I...I'll do it."  
  
Felix looked even more annoyed.  
  
"Let's get moving," Isaac announced. "Because we're gonna be late, and that's gonna make the girls mad, which means that we either fry or drown."  
  
"Thanks for pointing that out, Mister Obvious," Ivan grumbled to himself as he walked out the door, grabbing a small piece of paper from the table and quickly putting it in his pocket.  
  
"Hey..." Garet called to Felix and Piers. "Aren't you guys coming?"  
  
"No." Felix said sadly. "No point if you don't have a date."  
  
"We'll just stay here and get drunk or something," Piers cheerfully said. "You kids have a great time!"  
  
******  
  
They walked the short distance to the house, Isaac and Garet chatting animatedly, and Ivan lost in his own thoughts.  
  
Isaac was about to knock on the door, before it flew open, and Jenna and Mia walked out, both looking stunning in matching dresses, one of ruby red, and the other sapphire blue. (Can you guess who was wearing which dress?)  
  
Isaac's jaw nearly hit the floor before he managed to get in control of himself. Stepping closer, he grabbed Jenna's arm, planted a kiss on her forehead, and whispered, "You look positively radiant tomight, my dear."  
  
Jenna cast a dark glance at Isaac's tie, and said, "You too, Isaac." They began to walk off to the town square, talking quietly.  
  
Garet merely stood there and drooled.  
  
Mia sighed and grabbed Garet's arm. Garet began to drag her away, but she planted her feet and said, rather yelled, "Sheba! Get out here! It's party time!"  
  
A soft groan came from inside, followed by, "Do I have to?"  
  
"Yes! You can't keep the handsome young Ivan waiting all night!"  
  
Ivan and Sheba both choked at the same time. "...if I must...."  
  
Sheba steppd out in a light purple dress, which looked rather pretty, at least to Ivan. She also had a dark purple bow crushed in her fist. "I am NOT wearing the bow, Mia. It makes me look like I'm five!"  
  
Mia didn't hear her, as they already were walking away.  
  
"Hmph...I can't believe they made me wear this," Sheba complained, as Ivan reluctantly held out his arm. "I hate wearing dresses." With her free hand, she plucked a fold of the material and held it up, like she was holding something rotting. "They make me feel so....confined, so....It feels like everyone is staring at me."  
  
Ivan chuckled quietly. Glad to have found some common ground, he told her, with a little more spirit, "Oh, I know. I said the same thing when I was getting dressed."  
  
"Really?" Sheba was genuinely surprised. "I never thought you hated dressing up. You always did look so handsome..." Catching the look on Ivan's face, she flushed red, and said hastily, "Not that I mean anything by it, of course."  
  
She could swear on her life that Ivan looked disappointed.  
  
******  
  
They talked about their adventures the rest of the way there. When they finally reached the party site, a wonderful sight awaited them.  
  
Food was strewn around on two tables, chairs were set up alongside the edges of the square, and decorations were numerous. Balloons, streamers, confetti, you name it, they had it. But to top it all off, there was a man playing soft songs on a grand piano on a raised platform in the middle of the square, with a woman on a microphone singing the lyrics. And something in Ivan's mind clicked. 'That's how I'm going to tell her.'  
  
"Wow...I had no idea Jenna could actually do all this!" Sheba said in amazement.  
  
Ivan looked down and smiled at Sheba. "Let's go and have some fun!"  
  
With a giggle, she set off at a run towards Isaac, Jenna, Mia, and Garet, with Ivan following closely behind.  
  
******  
  
Ivan was tired, tired from all the dancing and laughing and fun he'd had. But not too tired to do what he had planned. He leaned across the table and whispered to Sheba, who was busy eating a leg of chicken and chatting casually with a girl from town, "I'll be right back. I need to take care of some...business."  
  
Sheba got the message and nodded.  
  
Ivan set off to find the piano player taking a break from playing.  
  
"Um...excuse me," he said to the man.  
  
"Well, hiya, sonny!" the man said with a wide grin. "What can I do for ya?"  
  
Ivan looked slightly miffed at the man's choice of names, but he said, "I was wondering if you take requests."  
  
"Well....yes. But it comes at a price." said the man.  
  
"Name it."  
  
"Twenty-five gold."  
  
Ivan pulled a small bag of coins out of his pocket and counted out 25 pieces. This he pushed towards the man. Then he reached into his other pocket and pulled out the paper he had placed there earlier. This he opened, revealing a music sheet with notes printed on it. " I want you to play this," he said, holding the sheet out.  
  
"Ah, yes. Easily done." The man's eyes widened slightly. "But there are no lyrics. Melissa here can't sing it if it doesn't have any lyrics."  
  
"Don't worry," Ivan said, grinning slightly. "I'll be singing it."  
  
******  
  
Ivan stook his place at center stage. Tapping the microphone, it screeched loudly, drawing all eyes towards him. Coughing slightly, Ivan leaned into the microphone and said, "Ahh....Well...This is a song that I wrote. A song for the one I love...." He signaled the piano man to begin playing. Looking directly into Sheba's eyes, he coughed once again, and began to sing....  
  
Would you dance if I asked you to dance?  
  
Would you run and never look back?  
  
Would you cry if you saw me crying?  
  
Would you save my soul tonight?  
  
Sheba's eyes grew misty, watching Ivan sing up there...  
  
Would you tremble if I touched your lips?  
  
Would you laugh oh please tell me these...  
  
Now would you die for the one you love?  
  
Hold me in your arms tonight?  
  
I can be your hero baby,  
  
I can kiss away the pain,  
  
I will stand by you forever,  
  
You can take my breath away...  
  
Would you swear that you'll always be mine?  
  
Would you lie would you run away?  
  
Am I in too deep?  
  
Have I lost my mind?  
  
I don't care you're here tonight.  
  
Sheba's mind was focused on two things: Ivan, and a single thought....  
  
I can be your hero baby,  
  
I can kiss away the pain,  
  
I will stand by you forever,  
  
You can take my breath away...  
  
I just want to hold you...  
  
I just want to hold you...  
  
Am I in too deep?  
  
Have I lost my mind?  
  
Well I don't care you're here tonight.  
  
The thought that the song was for her, and for her alone....  
  
I can be your hero baby,  
  
I can kiss away the pain,  
  
I will stand by you forever,  
  
You can take my breath away.  
  
She realized that she had to tell him, right here, right now....  
  
I can be your hero baby,  
  
I can kiss away the pain,  
  
I will stand by you forever,  
  
You can take my breath away..  
  
You can take my breath away.....  
  
With a loud cry of "Ivan!" Sheba threw herself onstage next to him. She leaned in close, whispered, "I love you, Ivan," in his ear, and kissed him lovingly on the lips.  
  
Smiling, Ivan slipped his srm around Sheba's waist, looked into her eyes again, and whispered the last words of the song to her alone.  
  
"I can be your hero..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Shadow: Please don't kill me if the song is a little messed up. See, I actually hate this song, but I thought it would be nice for a story thing, so I looked it up online.  
  
Viper: ^__^ I love fluffy!  
  
Kari: That was really cutsy, Shadow.  
  
Sheba: *yawns* Booorrrrinngggg........  
  
Shadow: Go suck on it. It was okay and you know it.  
  
Sheba: Hmph! Don't talk to me like that!  
  
Shadow: So whadda ya think? Should I continue writing fluffy or should I stick to the humor?  
  
Kari: Feedback is appreciated!  
  
Viper: All reviewers will get a chocolate covered cookie, and a personal handwritten letter of thanks from the authoress herself.  
  
Shadow: Ha ha...no. Only the cookie. 


End file.
